Commentary on the economic , geopolitical and simply fascinating things going on. Served occasionally with a side of snark.

Sunday, February 9, 2014

Fukushima nuclear disaster thread - Week of February 9 , 2014 - Examining the ongoing remediation attempts by Tepco at the Fukushima site , as well as the ongoing contamination not just in Japan , but globally. Sadly , the continuing attempts from both Japan and the US to cover up the full extent of the ongoing damage and health effect also set forth.

Following up this article.. 7,300,000,000 Bq/Kg of Cs-134/137 and 6,000 Bq/Kg of Pu-238/Am-241measured from the “hot” substance found in Naraha [URL]

3 of 4 pieces of the substance can be the packing material that is frequently used in Fukushima plant, according to Tepco.

The spokesman commented in the press conference of 2/12/2014.

It’s stated that the radiation level is similar to reactor3 debris though Co-60 density is significantly higher than reactor3 debris. However, 3 of 4 the pieces are polyethylene and polyolefin polymer, which are the same as the packing material, not the building material.

The other piece of the substance is wood, which they haven’t identified the origin either.

Following up this article.. Tepco “Analysis data is checked by someone in charge before publishing” [URL]

Tepco actually found the fact that they had been analyzing Strontium-90 in the wrong manner out on 10/2/2013. Tepco stated in the press conference of 2/10/2014.

However they didn’t announce that until last week.

NRA (Nuclear Regulation Authority) realized the randomness in Tepco’s measurement result by August. They sent the inspectors to the laboratory of Tepco on 10/8/2013, but they didn’t find anything to prove that Tepco has been analyzing in the wrong matter because Tepco changed it 6 days before.

It is not clear if Tepco intentionally covered up their wrong analysis before NRA came.

There is a possibility that the actual accident evaluation will be raised from now as Tepco gradually reveals the facts that they have been concealing since 311.

Having experienced 300m3 of leakage from a tank area, NRA (Nuclear Regulation Authority) classified the accident as INES Level.3 adding to the original Level.7 with the approval of IAEA.

However last week Tepco admitted Strontium-90 analysis had been wrong from 311 to October of 2013. (cf, Tepco “Analysis data is checked by someone in charge before publishing” [URL 2]) Especially the highly contaminated samples were mis-analyzed and the readings were underestimated.

Currently Tepco hasn’t even announced when they complete the correction of the past analysis, but if the contamination density of leaked water is increased after the correction, it may even increase the classification from Level 7 + 3.

Following up this article.. Tepco knew the wrong analysis of Strontium-90 by 10/2/2013 | 6 days before NRA sent inspectors [URL]

Tepco stated the radiation analysis team mostly consists of outsourced staff, in the press conference of 2/10/2014.

There are 4 laboratories in Fukushima plant. 30 workers are to analyze in each lab, however the analysis process is outsourced by Tepco.

The wrong analysis that continued for 2.5 years is from one of the possible simplest mistakes. It proves that Tepco is incapable of supervising all the outsourced companies for Fukushima decommissioning.

Tepco’s spokesman didn’t comment how many of the 30 workers are outsourced staff, but one of the journalists in press conference commented all the members were the outsourced staff when he visited the lab before. None of the responsible Tepco employee was supervising the analysis.

Following up this article.. Tepco been mis-analyzing Strontium-90 in contaminated water and seawater for 2.5 years since 311 [URL]

The analysis data of Strontium-90 are not straightly announced to public, according to Tepco.

Last week, Tepco finally admitted their Strontium-90 analysis was wrong, and released some of the data that have been concealed for over 6 months.

However, still none of the recent data is published. Since last June, approx only a few tens of Strontium-90 data have been published.

Strontium-90 analysis is known to take 1 month, but they haven’t announced for way over 1 month.

As to the reason, Tepco’s spokesman commented they take time to “check” the analysis data, in the press conference of 2/10/2014.

They state the manager of radiation measurement department of Fukushima headquarters checks “if it’s credible enough to publish”. The manager is supposed to send the report to the headquarters in Tokyo for approval.

There is a possibility that Tepco censors the raw analysis data before release.

Related to this article.. 5,000,000,000 Bq/m3 of Strontium-90 measured from groundwater last July / Tepco not announced for half a year [URL]

On 2/8/2014, Tepco finally admitted that they mis-analyzed all the samples for Strontium-90 from 311 to October of 2013.

Fukushima Diary has been warning of the possible error about their radiation measurement since last August. (cf, NRA “Tepco’s nuclide analysis may have a significant error” [URL])

Tepco states it is because the sensor of measurement instruments can’t detect all the radiation when the sample is too contaminated. They comment that the error of the readings become bigger when Strontium-90 density is over a few 100,000 Bq/L. It means especially the highly contaminated groundwater and seawater samples were underestimated.

Importantly, Tepco said it might not be only Strontium-90, but also Cesium-134/137 analysis might be wrong.

Tepco is going to re-analyze the past samples but most of the old ones are already abandoned. Also, the number of samples to re-analyze is enormous. They can’t even estimate when they complete the re-analysis.

One month ago, Fukushima Diary wrote the potential effect of the un-admitted mis-measurement of Tepco. (cf, [Column] Will Tepco admit their mistake in radiation analysis ? [URL]) We need to upgrade our recognition about Fukushima situation and sea contamination. It is worse then reported ever.

TEPCO has admitted a large number of their radiation readings taken since 2011 may be wrong and much lower than reality. An audit will be performed on old data from 2011 until October 2013. TEPCO called the audit “massive”. Their explanation is that high radiation samples had a “counting miss” where the total level of radiation in the sample is not accurately recorded. Some media reports questioned TEPCO’s excuse. We have not seen NRA’s view of … Read entire article »

TEPCO released readings for two seafront wells that have not been published before. Wells 1-2 and 1-3 were not on any older reports from before January.These are the first strontium 90 readings for these wells. The strontium 90 reading for well 1-2 was 5,000,000 bq/liter dated July 5, 2013. The “all beta” reading for the same date was actually lower … Read entire article »

METI has reported some progress and a plan for removing debris out of the unit 3 spent fuel pool. Initial work already in progress includes removal of the steel pool cover and then any rebar than can easily be removed, this work is already underway. Then work will progress in this order: 1.(④, ⑤, ⑥, ⑦) removal mast , roof truss … Read entire article »

The upper floors of the equipment hatch at unit 3 were found to have some damage on a recent inspection. METI’s report estimates a 50% reduction in seismic resistance in this area. They did not indicate that this would change the plan for installation of the defueling cover but this area currently is planned to be in use for that … Read entire article »

The cask storage facility at the seafront is now completely empty, all casks have been moved. This building will likely no longer be used. The common pool is now 82.5% full with 5643 fuel assemblies stored in the pool. Temporary cask storage is 43.5% full with 1274 fuel assemblies stored there. Unit 4 is down to 1401 assemblies remaining in the pool. http://www.meti.go.jp/earthquake/nuclear/pdf/131226/131226_01dd.pdf This article … Read entire article »

TEPCO did inspections on a damaged fuel assembly in the unit 4 spent fuel pool. The series of videos showed extensive damage. Photos and videos below. TEPCO does not indicate where within the pool this assembly was selected from. http://photo.tepco.co.jp/date/2014/201401-j/140130-01j.html TEPCO recently released 5 videos of the condition of fuel assemblies which were transferred to the common pool. Each of the videos … Read entire article »

In an unexplained change of plans TEPCO and the Japanese govt. are back to trying to sell the fishing groups and the public on their plan to use a failed water bypass system. In late 2013 IRID directed TEPCO and the Japanese govt to begin work on a wide scale bypass project that would create diversion wells far outside the plant … Read entire article »

264 fuel assemblies have been removed to the common pool from unit 4. http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/removal4u/index-e.html This article would not be possible without the extensive efforts of the SimplyInfo research team Join the conversation at chat.simplyinfo.org All content is copyright SimplyInfo.org. If you are viewing this content on any website other than www.simplyinfo.org it may be plagiarized, please let us know. If you wish to … Read entire article »